She closed her eyes and breathed.Eric.
Nine
Kiki’s building loomed—four stories of dark brick and restless shadows caught in the flicker of streetlights. It looked rougher at night, ominous.
Nikos stepped out of the SUV, his jaw tight as he glanced up toward the fourth floor.
Something wasn’t right. That blank space in his mind—it wasn’t just a lapse in memory. It felt like a jagged hole torn through reality itself. A nagging sensation pressed at him, like something vital had been ripped out, leaving a raw, black void behind.
“Stay put,” he ordered over his shoulder.
His driver and bodyguard didn’t look happy.
He climbed the steps of the stoop to the front door and entered the code into the keypad that Harvey had shared. Seconds later, he was taking the stairs two at a time.
By the time he reached the fourth floor, his breathing was ragged. Not from exertion—from fury. From the deep, gnawing frustration of not knowing what the hell was going on.
He forced himself to pause outside Kiki’s apartment door, inhaling through his nose and pressing his palm against the wall. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Once he felt under control again, he knocked. “Kiki?” he called, his voice low but sharp.
No answer.
He knocked again, louder, and waited.
Still nothing.
Frowning, he pulled out his phone and tapped her contact. The line connected—then went straight to voicemail.
Dammit.
He was about to knock a third time when the door across the hall cracked open with a creak. A halo of warm light spilled out into the hallway, silhouetting Harvey in the frame.
“Is Kiki with you?” Nikos asked, trying—and failing—to keep the edge out of his voice.
Harvey’s eyes widened with surprise. “No, I thought she was with you,” he said. “After the way she was wrapped around you earlier…”
Nikos’s frown deepened. “What?”
Harvey flushed. “I, uh, may have caught a glimpse through the peephole. She was all over you, kissing you like—well, like she couldn’t get enough of you. I stopped watching after you both went inside.” He lifted a hand. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay.”
Nikos’s stomach twisted.
Wrapped around him. Kissing him. Going inside.
He remembered none of it… but the words slammed into him like a freight train.
The door creaked behind Harvey as Jim appeared, his browfurrowed. “She left to grab a few things at the store,” he said. “She should’ve been back by now.”
“Do you think something’s wrong?” Harvey asked, worry coloring his voice.
“I don’t know,” Nikos said. “Do you have a key?”
Jim hesitated.
Harvey didn’t. “Yeah. Yeah, we do. I’ll get it.”
The two men murmured behind the door. Jim’s voice was low and sharp; Harvey’s was firm and insistent. Eventually, Harvey reappeared, a key in hand.
